Pact Holds Hope For Prosperity

End Of Civil Strife Expected To Draw Tourists Back

April 19, 1998|By LYNNE TUOHY; Courant Staff Writer

BUSHMILLS, Northern Ireland — The path to peace in Northern Ireland might lead straight to the Giant's Causeway, a world-renowned natural wonder of stone columns and rounded pillars jutting into the Atlantic Ocean on the North Antrim coast.

Amid this country of stunning castles and coastlines, Belleek pottery and the Bushmills whiskey distillery, the Giant's Causeway is the crown jewel of tourist attractions.

But even the mythical giant warrior Finn McCool, said to have built the causeway to walk his true love over from Scotland, cannot carry tourists here.

It's been proven that peace can.

Both the Irish Republican Army and its unionist counterpart, the Combined Loyalist Military Command, declared a cease-fire in 1994. The following year, the number of tourists visiting Northern Ireland soared 67 percent -- from 275,500 visitors to 461,000.

When an IRA bomb ripped through London's Canary Wharf district in February 1996, it collapsed Northern Ireland's tourism industry as well. The number of tourists declined by 36 percent, to 297,000.

The Stormont peace agreement reached nine days ago, whichwill be voted on by the people of Northern Ireland May 22, offers hope for prosperity as well as peace.

This past week alone, the European Union -- aided by the United States and the World Bank -- pledged nearly $325 million in aid for Northern Ireland. And some of the principal players in the Stormont negotiations gathered Thursday to announce the construction of a new college straddling the ``peace line'' in West Belfast, at a cost of more than $150 million.

The Springvale initiative, named for the neighborhood where the college will be located, will reach out to those residents who could not otherwise qualify for college because of low grades or income. Its courses will be designed to prepare up to 4,500 students a year for a range of work-force opportunities, from tourism to telecommunications.

Students from across the sectarian spectrum -- Catholic and Protestant, unionist and republican -- will come together at Springvale. The project marks Britain's first capital expenditure on higher education in Northern Ireland since ``the troubles'' began 30 years ago.

Springvale has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade. What has changed noticeably in Northern Ireland this past week is both attitude and expectations. Money and the promise of a much improved quality of life have become the weapons of choice in winning hearts and minds over to the agreement. Secretary of State Mo Mowlam, a woman similar in demeanor to Connecticut's late Gov. Ella T. Grasso, has even arranged an Elton John concert at Stormont grounds May 27. Promotion of the concert began Wednesday.

The emotional toll of three decades of civil strife is intangible, as is the emotional cost of compromise. The economic rewards of a true peace in Northern Ireland are not.

Tourism currently represents only 2 percent of the gross domestic product in Northern Ireland, compared with 6 percent to 7 percent in Great Britain and in the 26 counties that make up the Republic of Ireland.

If Northern Ireland's tourist trade could match that 6 percent mark, an extra $500 million pounds sterling -- the equivalent of about $830 million -- would be generated in revenue, said Mo Durkan, spokeswoman for the Northern Irish Tourist Board. Such a boom in business would generate 20,000 jobs and boost the income of many more.

``There's always a domino effect,'' said Durkan. ``Once you get more tourists, everyone makes more money -- the lady selling T-shirts, the man selling newspapers. Tourists are interested in so many different types of outlets it would have a knockdown effect on our economy.''

The tourist board's figures categorize visitors to Northern Ireland by whether they come for business, to see family or solely as tourists.

Understandably, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland account for most of the tourism in Northern Ireland because of their proximity, but the United States clearly is a player. In 1995, Durkan said, 47,000 U.S. citizens vacationed in Northern Ireland. In 1996, the number dropped by 32 percent to 32,000.

Durkan noted that a 1996 crime victimization study conducted by the British government showed Northern Ireland had the lowest rate of crimes against persons of the 11 industrialized countries surveyed, even with political killings and injuries factored in.

That is scant comfort to the tourists who happened to be at the Killyhevlin Hotel in the lakes region of Enniskillen July 13, 1996. In retaliation for the Royal Ulster Constabulary having cleared the way for a Protestant ``Orange'' march down the predominantly Catholic Garvaghy Road in Portadown July 12, a splinter group of the IRA detonated a car bomb in front of the hotel. Forty people were injured.